Norns on Raspberry Pi

[widdly]

There are software controlled internal pull up resistors on the rpi gpio pins.

[tehn]

fyi i just ordered an OSH for the yet-to-be-named norns rpi3 shield which is a high quality sound card, OLED header, 3x keys + encoders. it will be fully open-source and i don’t plan on selling kits of any kind. some SMD + TH. same codec as actual norns.

[Nordseele]

Yes I read that that’s why I was not really worried and I saw basic circuits not using a resistors: a pin on the GPIO, the other connected to the ground and that’s it On another hand I also read that it would be preferable to have a resistor on the circuit in case you accidentally set the GPIO to output instead of input. Well, I’m a newbie, still learning, I can try both solutions. Tomorrow, I will try to make the breadboard circuit work thanks to all the precious tips and guidelines provided in this thread

[Nordseele]

Oh great ! Thanks That means I can disconnect the breadboard and avoid frying my raspberry Pi then goodbye NornsHat, hello Norns rpi3 shield. Does it use the same Newhaven OLED display used on factory Norns ? Awesome news

[Jonny]

Aren’t ‘hats’ and ‘shields’ the same thing?

Sounds like it’ll just be a board and you’ll have to source the parts.

[Nordseele]

Absolutely NornsHat was just a nickname for my project without the DAC and ADC parts. Really happy to source the parts and solder SMD

[Jonny]

Ha, I like the name norns-hat.

[Oootini]

Oh that sounds cool!!

[okyeron]

FWIW - I’ve been working on a similar norns-dac-board/shield/hat (with a wolfson WM8731 DAC and the Newhaven OLED) and will have prototype pcbs in about 2 weeks. Working project title is “Fates”

@tehn - I’ll send you one if the build works as expected.

[okyeron]

I have a question about the display: If I use a display with SSD1322 later (the same as a factory Norns), will I only have to change the GPIO reference or is it more complicated than that ?

Yeah - you’ll need to update the GPIO assignments (I’m using gpios=reset:15,dc:14 on my project for the SSD1322). You may also need to go back and enable and recompile the display driver for the SSD1322 (like you did for the SH1106).

I have more detailed notes for the SSD1322 but the pi kernel has changed slightly and I’m going to want to retest with a fresh install to see if everything still works as I documented it back in the summer.

[Nordseele]

Thanks for your reply ! I’m gonna try with the SH1106 display today and I’m gonna order the SSD1322. I’ll also start from a fresh install

[infovore]

Aren’t ‘hats’ and ‘shields’ the same thing?

“Shield” is post-Arduino language for anything that bolts onto header pins. HATs are a specific form factor for RPi - specifically, I think a HAT conforms to the mounting holes and dimensions of a Pi board.

[TheTechnobear]

and capes for Beaglebone…

is someone planning on manufacturing these hats for end-users?

many of the requests here are users wanting to try norns out but aren’t even familiar with linux,
how many are going to be confident to start ordering pcbs, components, and solder esp. smd components?

thats not to say, it wouldn’t be good to have an open source design for it, that would be cool indeed.
(i might give it a go, if there is not a huge amount of smd, and the BOM/PCB is easy enough to source in Europe)

[petesasqwax]

This describes where I am completely. I’m not averse to soldering but the closest I’ve come to programming is rooting android devices and writing macros in Excel…

[okyeron]

is someone planning on manufacturing these hats for end-users?

I may do kits with the board I’m making. Maybe with the SMD already done and let the user do the thru-hole stuff (jacks, buttons, encs).

[DMR]

If someone doesn’t want to do the DIY, they could purchase a Norns?

[TheTechnobear]

If someone doesn’t want to do the DIY, they could purchase a Norns?

as stated above, a few users have posted on this thread that they want to try Norns on a rPI before they buy one to see if its for them… (as its quite an investment, even more so if your outside the US) - in this sense its almost ‘pre-sales’ support

in this context, the rPI is not an alternative to the Norns, so that hardware interface is actually not that important i.e. a touchscreen (or even mouse/screen) may be adequate to get a feel for Norns - even a rPI is arguable not necessary, an image could be made to run on macOS/windows.

lots of different potential users, with different skill sets, so unlikely there is a ‘one size fits all’ solution.

[joostoftoday]

(as its quite an investment, even more so if your outside the US)

Exactly, importing Norns from the US is quite costly, so trying it before would be better.
I mean, for me a huge part of norn’s appeal is it’s design. And that’s definitely worth the money.

[jasonw22]

lots of different potential users, with different skill sets, so unlikely there is a ‘one size fits all’ solution.

There’s always a different way, and that’s the beauty of DIY, you aren’t constrained. But I do see value in @tehn’s open source reference board or @okyeron’s version as “two sizes fit most” alternatives.

[Nordseele]

I’ve made a simple « hat » (larger than the RPI3) that can be used with Norns on Raspberry Pi or another project. Unlike the two other projects, this one doesn’t have DAC/ADC + IO but it uses the same Newhaven OLED display, it has three Bourns encoders and three APEM soft and quiet push buttons. It’s just a « low-cost » solution. I plan to use it with an ES-8 soundcard. There’s room for a battery (or an expansion board ?) Dimensions 150x84x23mm with the aluminum enclosure. The files are almost ready to ship to the PCB manufacturer and Schaeffer or Grawart.

3d rendering:

Final project: https://github.com/nordseele/nordhat